After we ogled Roy’s mouthwatering photo of knafeh on Instagram, he kindly arranged for young Iraqi-born chef Riyad Seewan to come to our kitchen and take us through the steps for the perfect rendition. This recipe comes from Riyad’s aunt, his family’s knafeh specialist, and she kindly agreed to share the recipe with us. Assemble ahead, keep in the fridge until cooking time, then pull out of the oven to oohs and aahs at the first crunch of the golden syrupy kataifi (a type of shredded filo) and a mouthful of stretchy luscious cheese. It is much easier to make than we imagined, and is now Jacqui’s favourite new dessert. You can find kataifi pastry at Middle Eastern and specialty food stores.
Ingredients
Method
Cheese Filling
- 1 litre water
- 60g white (granulated)
- sugar
- 200g haloumi cheese, sliced
- 400g grated Italian mozzarella
- 3 teaspoons fine semolina
Pastry
- 215g kataifi pastry
- 100g unsalted butter
- 50g caster
- (superfine) sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter, softened, for greasing
Syrup
- 200ml water
- 50g caster
- (superfine) sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange blossom water
- 2 cardamom pods (optional)
Also Needed
- 60g shelled pistachios,
- chopped
- vanilla ice cream, to serve
Serves about 10
You will need a 20 cm (8 inch) cast-iron deep frying pan or an ovenproof dish the same size.
To start the cheese filling, combine the water and white sugar in a large bowl and soak the haloumi for 2 hours to extract the salt.
Half an hour or so before the 2 hours is up, prepare the pastry and the syrup. Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F/Gas 3). With scissors, cut the kataifi pastry into 1 cm (½ inch) lengths and use your fingers to gently separate each strand. Spread the pastry out on a baking tray. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and caster sugar together then pour it over the pastry. Work the butter mixture through the pasty with your fingers, taking the time to separate the strands again. Spread the pastry evenly across the tray and bake for 5 minutes until a little dry.
To make the syrup, combine the water, caster sugar, orange blossom water and cardamom pods (if using) in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Continue to simmer without stirring for 3–4 minutes or until just starting to thicken. Set aside.
Drain the haloumi well, squeezing out any excess water. Place the haloumi in the food processor and pulse until it is the size of coarse breadcrumbs.
Set aside and then process the mozzarella the same way. You could also grate the haloumi by hand and mix with the mozzarella. Combine the cheeses.
Grease the pan with the softened butter. Place half the pastry into the bottom of the pan, spread it around and press lightly to ensure a firm, even coverage. Sprinkle over half the semolina and top with the cheese mixture.
Sprinkle with the remaining semolina and top with the remaining pastry, pressing lightly to create an even layer.
Sprinkle 60 ml (¼ cup) of the syrup over the top and bake for 40 minutes or until light golden brown on top. While it’s in the oven, bring the remaining syrup to the boil over medium heat. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until you have around 60ml (¼ cup) of thick syrup remaining.
Remove the knafeh from the oven and pour the syrup over the top. Sprinkle with the pistachios and serve immediately, on its own or with ice cream.
